Starting Something Not So Normal
by usmccanthem
Summary: Prequel to "A Not So Normal Fifth Year". Anna Hall had always been a bit strange, you had to be to talk to faeries, but to find out that she's a witch really topped the cake. See how she is able to get through her first few days in the magical world and makes friends along the way.


**Disclaimer:**

"_Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The hulking figure growled out as he stalked toward the seven differently sized books that were on the steel table with a shrouded figure sitting on the opposite side of where he was._

"_Books," a prim and proper woman's voice stated._

"_Books, and what can you tell me about these books?" The hulking man, as that was all he could be, rudely asked._

"_They are mine, not yours," She answers as she pushes back her hood, showing the face of J.K. Rowling. "I own the copyright."_

"_Well lady," he grinned, which sent a shiver down her spine. "That's been contested hasn't it?"_

_She glared at him defiantly, though couldn't quite meet his eye, "Either way it isn't yours."_

"_Too right," he said with a pinch of regret. "Pity, I could've made millions."_

**Authors Note:**

This is the prequel to the revision of _"A Canadian Interloper"_ (that will be renamed) which I originally started in August and will begin to re-rewrite (though don't expect timely posts due to work and school). I had started to find it lacking and have restarted it and am trying to give it a plot. Before I was just writing what I wanted and trying to get length over quality. Now I am fixing the problem by giving you this (which holds passages from the one-shot "A Day in Diagon Alley" and scenes from chapters 6 and 7 of "A Canadian Interloper") to tide you over until I begin it.

Enjoy!

USMCcAnthem

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**Starting Something Not So Normal**

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**...**

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Anna was not what one would call a 'normal' girl, or even average. She never really did things half way – she loved you or hated you, was pissed or joyful – and she never seemed to grasp the concept of narrow-mindedness that holds many back. This meant that she could never be normal, peculiar maybe, but not normal. She may have been normal once upon a time, like before her eleventh summer, but even that is contested. Then again, one cannot be normal with parents like hers.

Now, don't go thinking bad things about them. She's not beaten or starved or particularly neglected (unless you count the time when her mom lost her in Superstore when she was four, but only Anna counts that), nope no drug abuse or alcoholics, no prostitutes or sugar-daddies. No, her parents were normal in some sense of the word, they worked for a living (mom being a dental assistant and her father a cop, on graveyard shift), they liked karaoke, and to hunt ghosts – okay, the last part is a little odd, but everyone has their quirks.

Their names were Kathy and Ken Hall, one from Canada and the other from Northern England, and they met each other during a NATO training exercise in Greenland – Kathy still has the trolls to prove it, apparently they like trolls – and got engaged after knowing each other for two weeks... yes, two weeks, which is where the insanity starts. They toured each other's home, hitting the huge tourist destinations (though Ken never did get to see Niagara Falls, but he never did understand the fact that he only had _three_ days left and he was in British Columbia and Niagara Falls was on the opposite side of the _continent_ in Ontario) and then baby Anna pops out just nine months after the slightly drunken wedding (silly best man got Ken plastered the night before the wedding, some interesting pictures resulted from it).

Okay, okay, now one would wonder just exactly how this ties into Anna being just a little off her rocker, as her parents had normal jobs, semi-normal hobbies (again quirks) and maybe got engaged a little too quickly, but they're still together and love Anna, so what happened? Well the odd sense of humor that Kathy has (involves sayings like "gayer than a popcorn fart"1 and "as useless as tits on a bull"2) and Kens penchant to becoming obsessed over one thing, thus the creation of The Canadian Paranormal Society3 which Anna had fun helping out with, especially when she helped her dad try to find things in the EVP's4 that he had gathered on investigations. These actions caused Anna to have a weird sense of what is funny and believe that anything is real, making her dive into fantasy and sci-fi novels and videos to learn more about what is real and what is not. She believed in myths like the loch Ness monster and big foot and was almost always day dreaming.

This caused Kathy to worry about her daughter, as even though her husband was quite into the oddity and weird did not mean that she was. Weird sayings or not, she was quite straight and narrow all-in-all. It didn't help her worries about her daughter when she found out that she was being verbally bullied by one of the other girls in school and had nearly no friends. It really didn't help that Anna liked school way too much for a kid or that she talked to fairies in the bushes (she said they were real, but no one believed her), maybe it was that or the fact that odd things happened around her since she was young. Kathy would always swear that Anna could summon her stuffed toys to her, no matter where they were, or when the girl who bullied her was pulled into an atomic wedgie when no one was around her or when Anna had wanted the lead on a song when she was in choir and her competition suddenly started croaking whenever she sang, or when the hedge trimmers start to trim the hedge all on its own and made it look like a cat, which Kathy swore meowed at her once. However, Kathy never made one move to stop it, or to try and change her daughters' behavior, so she continued to act oddly until that fateful day in June.

That day changed everything and nothing. It verified to Anna that everything she believed was, in fact, true or at least most of it. It made Ken want to go find where there were actual ghosts, and to know that he had Magicals5 in his family. It placated Kathy's worries over her daughter being made fun of for life and never achieving anything (even though Anna got straight A's) or to be a nut job forever.

It was the day she got her letter.

It was the day that Anna found out she was a witch.

The letter, which five years later was pinned to the corkboard in her room, went like this:

oOoOo

_Dear Miss A. Hall,_

_ We are pleased to announce that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this fall. Hogwarts is the premier school for magic in the world, located on the British Isles, but will not be found on any map. As a citizen from the British Isles and/or Canada, you are automatically given a letter of acceptance to the school. It is in the hope that you will begin and end your schooling here, but please write back if you have already chosen another school of witchcraft and wizardry to attend so that you will be removed from our lists._

_However, as to most of those who live in the Muggle (non-magicals) or Mundane world this will be hard for you and/or your family to believe, so a representative of the ministry will arrive at your place at 10 o'clock Wednesday evening. If that is not acceptable please write on the parchment when would be the best available time for clarification. Enclosed in this envelope is a brochure for "Muggle Students" which gives students a chance to understand the wizarding world until they get to Hogwarts where they will take a mandatory Wizarding Studies Course._

_ Any questions will be taken by the Ministry Representative, who will take your acceptance or denial to attend Hogwarts._

_ Awaitng diligently for your reply,_

_ Dean Thomas_

_ Deputy Headmaster_

_ Head of Gryffindor House_

_Order of Merlin Class Three_

oOoOo

Both Ken and Anna were hyped for days before the meeting with the representative, already believing that the letter was true (Anna thought that someone with that many titles couldn't be lying), but Kathy was sceptical and kept on trying to stop her daughter from getting too hyped up about what may be a joke.

Then of course Wednesday came around. Anna was jittery since she had woken up at six, she wouldn't sit still and ended up talking to the fairies in disjointed sentences for two hours when Kathy had finally had enough with her constant chattering and sent her outside. Ken was very much like his daughter, but instead he was compiling the best evidence he had of his ghost hunting and trying to get his wife to talk about how the representative was going to produce proof that magic is real. Kathy was just trying to deal with the stress that came from talking to hyper people for too long and hoping that it wasn't a hoax.

She learned by lunch that it was indeed true.

oOoOo

"Mom, a person just popped out of nowhere into our backyard!" Anna yelled to her mom as she waved jauntily at the oddly dressed new comer. "Hi, my names Anna, what's yours?" She asked cheerfully, extending her hand out to the stranger.

"Names McGuffin luv, James McGuffin. I'm the ministry representative," the short man answered her in English accent, though different from her fathers. Anna noticed, now that she was no longer talking to a stranger, that he was dressed funny. It looked like he was wearing a blue shapeless dress with long sleeves.

"Why are you dressed so funny James? Do I have to dress like that?" Anna's nose wrinkled at the thought of wearing such horrid clothes. She wasn't much of a girly girl, and in fact wore horrible outfits, like the yellow shirt and purple tights she was wearing now, but the thing he was wearing looked awful.

"Eh? What's so wrong with my cloak, you're the funny one I tell ya."

Anna was about to retort when her mother came out the house and called them both in. Once the satisfactory introductions were made, and Ken asked why James was dressed so funny (to which he muttered, "I do not dress funny! Silly muggles."), they settled in to discuss if the magical world was real.

"Okay, so these two," Kathy pointed at the two trouble makers on either side of her (Ken and Anna), "believe that magic is real with no demonstration, but I need one just to be sure."

"No problem Misses, your much better than most of the Muggle's I meet, some try to kill with those shun thingies." James said kindly, not noticing the way Ken removed his hand from the holster on his hip that held his nine mil pistol (he may believe in magic but that doesn't mean this man isn't a threat to his daughter). No one made a move to correct what he said. "Well," he started as he took out a short stick, "this is a wand, my wand specifically, and you'll get one when you go to Diagon Alley."

Anna nodded as she remembered reading about Diagon Alley in her Muggle Student Packet.

"Ah, so the basic stuff yes. Okay, _wingardium leviosa._" He intoned as he pointed to the coffee table that sat between them. It lifted a couple inches off the ground and Anna and Ken both check to make sure there were no wires or anything before they sat back down and grinned at each other.

"Wow," was all Kathy could say, now with proof that magic existed, especially when he continued to turn the coffee table into a pig, and dusted the whole living room with just a sweep of his wand.

"Awesome," Anna said as she saw the green hair her dad sported for a couple seconds before James turned it back.

Once the magic show was done the adults gathered together while Anna went outside to tell her fairy friends what she just saw. Both of her parents knew that they could not deny her the chance to go to Hogwarts and learn to do what James McGuffin just did, but it would certainly be hard on their budget. They talked of different travelling options, and found that making her fly there and back every year was cheaper than any of the magical methods, and that they wouldn't get to have her during the school year (for things like Easter and Christmas), and were arranging for Ken's brother Derrik and his wife to take them in. They also learned that the cost for room and board was pretty expensive and that they would need to take out a loan from the bank to even consider covering it. James left just before lunch and after that day, it all passed in a blur with reserving seats on the plane to getting a hotel room near London, as they were going shopping on the 30th of August so that they wouldn't have to spend too much time in England, and because Ken and Kathy wanted to be there to set her off at the station without booking off too much time.

oOoOo

The flight over went by quickly, or as quickly as a nine hour flight can, as the family of three waited with anticipation for the day of shopping the next day. When they got to their hotel, they took a quick nap before getting up an hour before Minerva "Call me McGonagall" McGonagall would pick them up for shopping. When the time came they went downstairs to see the funnily dressed woman (she was wearing one of the odd cloaks like James, except hers was green) with steel gray hair pulled tight into a bun and her face in a stern expression. She introduced herself as the Headmistress (who was only escorting them due to the fact that she had lost a bet against her Deputy during Staff Poker night), which shocked Kathy and made Ken and Anna quite somber6 before they went back to their happy go lucky attitudes. With that done they followed her out of the hotel.

Anna and her parents walked the crowded London streets after McGonagall who was leading them toward what she had called in her Scottish accent "The Leaky Cauldron."

The three family members had heard of such a place during the Ministry Representative visit and in the Muggle Student Packet, but Ken and Anna were excited to see the pub. They had different reasons for being excited, for Ken he wanted to see, smell and taste the difference of a wizarding pub to the English pubs he had visited as a youth (and maybe see a ghost); for Anna she was just excited to finally be allowed into a pub – as anyone under 19 wasn't allowed in pubs in BC – and it would be her first memory of one, and let's not forget that this was the entrance into the magical shopping center in England. Kathy however, was of no rush to enter the pub, seeing as she hadn't desired to enter one since the Cherry Brandy incident in '90 and the fact that she knew that the magical world would take her daughter away from her. So she walked closer to the back of the group, jostled from side to side on the crowded London streets. She hoped that this McGonagall woman knew where she was going, as she didn't wish to be lost in such a populous and foreign city, even if she had been to London before, it had gotten much more crowded since then.

Suddenly McGonagall stopped, looking outlandish against the drab colours that the people around her wore, in front of a dilapidated building. Anna gasped, as she did not see what her parents saw. To her, the dilapidated building was slightly shabby, but seeming to be teeming with energy. It was like a pulse of... force that came off the building that gave it an aura of Magic. She and her parents joined McGonagall in front of the building, Ken and Kathy looking bewildered, and Anna seeming to be awestruck.

McGonagall waved a hand toward the door and said with her brogue, "Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron, please, step in." She pushed open the door and held it for the family.

Ken and Kathy finally understood the look of awe on their daughters' face as they were bombarded with a raucous of laughter, shouts and chatter. As they followed their young daughter into the pub they were engulfed in the cloud of smoke that hung in the air, not exactly sanitary, but it was a part of the pub. It held a certain place in Ken's heart to see everyone sitting around, discussing this, that and the other over a pint of God knows what that wizards drink. No Guinness was served here, though an amber liquid was served to everyone, even kids, which made the family wonder what it was, and how good it was if nearly everyone was drinking it.

Anna saw all different types of people and, well, things she didn't know. They were all different shapes and colours and disfigurements. She smiled at the Irish, if she got her accents right, family that had turned to see the new comers. They smiled politely back at her, the young boy with light brown hair and a large smile sitting at the table giving her a jaunty wave before turning back to their conversation.

"Follow me," the enigmatic witch beckoned to the family. She wove through the crowd until she walked into what seemed a back closet. The three were confused, they knew it was the entrance to Diagon Alley, but didn't really understand why the entrance had to be hidden when the pub was hidden. To each their own, Ken thought and followed the woman while his two ladies followed close behind.

The closet was small, but fit them all quite fine, as McGonagall, Kathy and Anna were quite small. The way they were facing was made of brick, while the rest were plaster and was just as dingy, if not more so, as the pub they had just left. Because Anna was behind McGonagall, she did not see the witch tap her wand on the bricks, at just the right spot, but she did see the bricks moving at their own accord. It surreal to watch as the bricks moved to form an archway. She peeked from behind the folds of McGonagall's cloak to see the Alleyway beyond, and it was much more spectacular than she thought it would be.

It was packed with people; almost all of them in multicoloured cloaks (funny things they are) like McGonagall's; though there were none quite as green or blue as James McGuffin's. They all moved with a purpose in and out through the different shops. The shops were _really_ cool to Anna: they all looked like they were from the dark ages (wow what progress). The stores second floors leaned over the streets, jutting out at random here and there, and the store fronts boasted bright, icky and beautiful wares. She could see one store that had a whole bunch of owls – Anna loved owls with a passion, but knew that she wouldn't be able to get one – outside of it, and another that was bright purple and held bright posters that moved, changing from one ad to another. Kathy found the moving pictures creepy, as though they had ways of doing it in the muggle world, she could help freaking out as the pictures seemed to have a mind of their own, moving and dancing, all the same but different.

"This is amazing," Anna whispered in shock. It was almost an overload to feel so much magic at once; it was like putting your finger into an electrical socket (which she did when she was eight) and getting shocked. She was used to being around Faeries as they are quite magical, but to have century's worth of history of magic using in one place overwhelmed her senses before she could get a handle on them. She tugged at her lip in worry, fretting that she wouldn't be able to fit in such a fantastic world as she saw a tendril of pink magic weaving with a green band in the air. She knew that she stood out in her normal clothes, a baggy red t-shirt with a white Canadian flag on it, black leggings which bagged in odd places and scuffed black Keds. She also knew from James that feeling and seeing magic was certainly not normal.

McGonagall seemed to sense this worry, and placed a hand reassuringly on the young girls shoulder, "Don't fret my dear." Her voice was stern, but Anna could hear that comfort that she was trying to bring, and stopped worrying her poor lip. Anna knew that the older woman didn't really understand her worry of being able to fit in, something she could never do before, but it calmed to hear the words spoken aloud. "Now, let's go to Gringotts, as we have much to buy today." With that said she ushered the family away.

'Maybe it would be best if I didn't mention it to anybody, just read up about it and learn,' she thought to herself as she clung to her mother's hand to make sure they weren't separated. 'Yeah, that sounds best.'

oOoOo

Kathy had a down to earth kind of personality, even with Ken and Anna around (as they were of a peculiar sort), but being in the company of Goblins tends to make ones values sway a bit. As how can you say that Goblins, Ghouls, Ghosts and the sort do not exist when they are standing – if elevated – in front of you? So it was not a pleasant trip for her spent at Gringotts, and to be honest, McGonagall was right there with her. She may not be prejudiced towards the Goblins, but they were nasty buggers if you asked her. Though Ken and Anna didn't ask and were having a pleasant time talking to one of the elders (which only the two of them and the other goblins recognized) and they got much better service than any of the other people that had entered the bank since its founding, not that Kathy or Minerva noticed. The two women were thankful to be back out into the Alley while Ken and Anna were a tad upset at having to stop their interesting conversation.

"So, I know you must be bursting with excitement about Hogwarts, and so I will lead off with the basics that you were unable to get from the brochure and the ministry helper and then answer any questions that you feel necessary to be answered." McGonagall stated to the young family as she led them into Flourish and Blots.

"Yeah, that would ease our minds," Kathy said to the stern witch, she wasn't sure she liked her, but would ask Anna of her opinion later. As Anna had a tendency to be right about people after she first meets them. Also, the one thing that had never really been explained was Hogwarts, yes they knew it was a great (and expensive) school, but they didn't really know of the classes except Wizard Studies and Transfiguration, as the book list was rather odd and didn't really explain which book was for which class. Kathy was truly hoping that she would learn something truly horrendous, like they do human sacrifices or something like that, so that she could have a good reason to say screw magic and make sure that her daughter, and best friend, would not leave her.

"Can I fly?" Ken asked excitedly, completely bypassing the fact that McGonagall said she would ask questions only after she had said the basics. He wasn't particularly bothered by the elder witch, as he really wanted to trying flying a broom, but didn't know that if, as a Mundane (he refused to use such a word as Muggle, much too derogatory), he would be able to use one.

His wife slapped him upside the head which caused a resounding, "Ow," but he complied to shut up after the glare she sent him. Rubbing his head, he resigned himself to listen to the boring things.

"Well," the old witch began, pushing open the door to the bookstore, "first I'll start with Hogwarts." She paused, glaring to let Ken know that she wasn't going to answer his question, as they all entered. "Hogwarts students are separated into four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Huffelpuff and Slytherin. Those sorted into each house has a great amount of whatever each house values, like a Gryffindor usually has a great amount of Bravery. Throughout the year, students try to win house points to win the House Cup at the end of year feast..." She continued on to describe punishments, classes and, eventually, Quidditch as they bought the books that Anna needed for her classes and a couple extra on magic sensing (which was a small slim book, and the only one she could find on the subject) and one on magical creatures.

Walking toward the next shop, which Ken and Anna were not enthused about – Madam Malkins, a clothing store – as Ken listened intently to McGonagall as she described Quidditch, which seemed like an amazing sport. "There are seven players in total on a team: one keeper, two beaters, three chasers and a seeker. The chasers pass a ball, called the Quaffle, to each other while avoiding the other teams' chasers and the Bludgers, which are nasty buggers that have a mind of their own but are slightly controlled by the beaters, and then try to get a goal through one of the three hoops which the Keeper is guarding." Ken looked ready to burst with a question, as he hadn't really found a sport that held his interest since rugby in a long time, and the stern look on McGonagall's face cracked a bit at the hilarity of it. "Ah, yes, I can see you're ready to ask about the seeker Mr. Hall.

"The seeker has the most important job in the game. The seeker has to catch the Golden Snitch. The Snitch is about the since of a... wolf ball?" McGonagall paused, trying to find the right word for the muggle comparison.

Anna knew what she was talking about, as she had been hanging on to every word, trying to figure out if she could actually find a sport that she liked in this world. "Like a Golf ball you mean."

McGonagall's eyes brightened and she smiled at the young girl, whose hair was in slight disarray from trying on the various robes that she needed for school. "Ah, yes, golf ball; only the Snitch has wings and is wicked fast, making it near impossible to see. The seeker to catch the Snitch ends the game and wins a total of 150 points for their team. So it is vitally important for the Seeker to be good, but without a good team all around it won't matter how good your seeker is."

Once Kathy paid for the robes, which were too expensive in her opinion, especially since she knew her daughter would grow at least another three inches during her time away, but she didn't question it (even if she wanted to ). They went to the potions store, where McGonagall told them a bit about the Ministry when Kathy asked about it, which is "way better than the fools who were running it two decades ago," and Ken managed to get a batch of toad eyes dumped on him by some Hag. It was quite funny for Kathy to see her rough and tumble, "I ate spiders for breakfast and chocolate covered ants for snacks" husband jumping up and down shuddering and sputtering at the slimy eyes that decorated his pressed button down shirt. Anna wrinkled her nose at her father and moved closer to McGonagall to get away from the flying eyes and the slightly panicking store clerk that was cleaning him off, very poorly in her opinion.

Finally, after being in the Alley for four hours, they made their way to the shop that Anna wanted to go to most: Olivanders. Its faded gold lettering, and established date, which Anna thought for sure couldn't be real, added to the pressure of old magic that she felt exuding from the store.

As she pushed the wooden door open, with the three adults following, a chime of a bell seemed to alert the shop owner. "Ah," the light mystical voice called among the stacks of boxes. "I was wondering when I would see another sensor in my shop."

Anna blinked as she noticed (and heard, meaning the others did not hear his comment about her being a sensor; to her relief), before the others, the silently gliding form of an old man in the shadows. He wasn't very tall, and his silver hair seemed to stick out in all random directions and even be balding in some areas; however, it was his eyes, which she could she even from that distance that seemed to hold her. His eyes were almost completely white, as if he had gone blind, but she could tell that he could see somehow. He gave her a small smile before stepping out from the shadow of the boxes. She could feel all three adults jump, and was quite proud of herself to have noticed him first.

"Please step forward Miss Hall," the soft voice called, as he gestured for her to stand before the counter. "Which is your wand arm?" As he asked this a tape measure zoomed up and started to measure her height, legs, arms, and so on.

Anna, greatly distracted by the tape, which was moving by itself, answered without thinking, "My right." When she realized what she'd said, she hoped that her writing hand would be the same as her wand arm.

"Ah, yes, yes, hmm..." Mr. Olivander, as that is who he must be, muttered under his breath as he searched the stacks of boxes. He found a box, began to pull it out, then muttered again, "No, no, hmm, I wonder, no, not that one." This went on for a while, and the measuring eventually stopped measuring her after figuring out the dilation of her pupils.

Anna looked at the three adults. Her mom and dad were sitting on a chair in the corner, well her dad was sitting on it and her mom was on his lap, and Professor McGonagall was staring at Olivander with a perplexed expression. Anna was under the impression, if McGonagall's expression was anything to go by, that this was not the normal sort of behaviour. Then again, what does she know about normal behaviour? Shrugging it off, she turned back around to see Olivander walking back toward her with a very dusty – but what wasn't dusty in the shop – box. He pulled off the top and gently removed the shimmering fabric which seemed to keep the dust away from the wand. He inclined the wand box toward Anna, and she peeked inside.

The wand that lay in the box was exquisite: it twirled and knotted, very much like Celtic knots, but a bit more eloquent. It was a light, almost ash colour and it seemed to glow with a white light around it. She reached in hesitantly, to which Mr. Olivander nudged it closer to her. The moment she touched the wand, she saw a white light grow encase her body. It didn't blind her, but instead filled her with warmth, and with a sort of fulfillment and completion. It was if she wasn't completely whole before that moment, or that she hadn't really seen life as it should be. When the glow dimmed – it dimmed, but did not leave – she saw things differently.

She had always been able to see and feel of magic in the air, but now it was as clear as day instead of hazy. It pulsed, glowed, twisted and twined with a multitude of different colours, but unlike when she had entered the Alley, it did not overwhelm her but settled comfortably and gently. She looked up to see Mr. Olivander was encased in a lovely mysterious (and how could it not be?) silver aura that was as mesmerizing as he was. She turned to look at McGonagall, and was surprised by the rose pink glow that circled her. She had power, much power, but it was closely contained and held a surprising gentleness, almost mothering quality to it.

When she turned back to Olivander, he asked "Is that the wand?" She heard a shocked gasp from McGonagall, and knew straight off that it wasn't a normal question asked by him.

"Yes, it's mine." She said quietly. She could tell that the wand, Ash, 12 and a half inches, slightly swishy with a Horntail Heartstring and Phoenix feather core was the wand for her. She could tell, as the information seemed to be given to her by the wand. _Odd,_ she thought, but she didn't mind much. She loved her wand already, much like an old friend that finally found her.

"That is a very strange wand Miss Hall. It is not the makeup of it, but the way it acts," he told her, not paying any mind to the others in the shop. "Very powerful, and it has a mind almost to itself. Treat it well Miss Hall."

She already knew that though, she knew that it was powerful, as she could feel it thrumming through her blood. Powerful and gentle, yet forceful; it could be deadly and protective, and healing and soothing. The wand was a bundle of contradictions, much like a human, much like the opposing cores. It seemed to speak to her, sending feelings of comfort and contentment toward her that made her feel truly excited to learn magic, much more than she had before, just to make the wand proud. "I'll treat her well Mr. Olivander, you have my word." She didn't know why she called the wand a female, but it fit she knew.

Mr. Olivander, who didn't seem shocked at all, just smiled at Anna, "Please, take it free of charge, it was meant for you." With that he walked to the back of the store leaving three shell shocked adults and a pleased eleven year old.

oOoOo

McGonagall was muttering when they went back through the Alleyway to the pub. She had never seen Mr. Olivander act in such a way before and to say that the wand had almost a mind to itself. It was preposterous! And the way that Miss Hall hadn't been able to part herself with it, seeming to cling to it, was odd indeed. She had also noticed the way she treated the Goblins, as they got much more respect nowadays then when Fudge was in power, but many witches and wizards thought that they were below them, or creepy like she did. However Anna was completely different, treating them with respect and even joking with them. One does not joke with a Goblin. McGonagall wondered just what Anna would bring to the wizarding world, would she change it, or would she conform to it? She hoped that Anna would be able to make friends here and find a future here.

As she watched Anna play around with her father, she couldn't help but be reminded of the Potter's. She had the energy to keep up with young Lily and the goodness to understand Albus. She hoped that maybe one day, Albus and Anna would be able to at least be friends, as they could certainly turn the world to the better together.

oOoOo

As the group sat down to have a bit to eat, Anna didn't let go of her wand, she even asked McGonagall to permanently transfigure her a holder that she could put around her right forearm. Now the wand was warm against her skin, and seemed to hum with happiness. She knew, just knew, that it was not normal, but she didn't mind, especially since the pulsing magic that she had seen so clearly before slowly faded so that she could see without the multitude of auras as she had taken to calling the colours around people. She didn't miss seeing the disconcerting swirling colours and if she did want to see them, all she had to do was concentrate.

Picking at her food, she wondered what it would be like to go to school and learn magic. Truthfully it was like a dream come true and she couldn't wait, but now that she was about to go, she didn't really know what to expect. She was happy in the wizarding world, or at least, in Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron, as they were both vivacious and homey once the magic stopped pressing down on her. They did not strive to be full of steel and sharp angles and she loved that about the places she had seen. Besides she found the smells of smoke that drifted in the air; so much different from the acrid smell of tobacco.

After they had finished all they could eat, they left the dingy pub and were again in Muggle London. They traversed the busy streets, and were again at their hotel. It wasn't an enjoyable trip back, especially with the bulging packages that they all carried, well expect for McGonagall.

At the lobby, which looked too clean and detached for Anna's standards, McGonagall bid them a tart, "Good day." Then she strode out of the hotel and was gone as soon as they blinked.

oOoOo

Nothing much happened over the next day as they finished packing the fancy7 trunk with all of Anna's non-wizard stuff while flipping idly through her books. The time passed fast for the family, though this time they were not so happy about it. Nerves spread through all three of them as they walked into Kings Cross Station, which was already packed full of commuters. When they reached the barrier between nine and ten, they glanced at it apprehensively.

"_'Just run through it,'_ she said," Ken mumbled. He looked anxious about running at a wall, and Anna could tell by the death grip in which he was holding her mom's hand that it wasn't a farce. His hazel eyes darted around nervously as he tugged on his lip and ran his left hand through his short ash brown hair; yeah, he wasn't happy.

Her mom on the other hand was completely unfazed by running through a wall. "Hun," she said to dad. "You're able to believe that brooms can fly, but cannot believe that a wall can be unsolid?" The look she threw him was one of disbelief. Considering that she had been the one to be in disbelief over the whole magic thing, it really was hard for Anna to believe that her dad was the one acting like this, but her dad was, well, her dad. Sometimes it was best to leave reason at the door when dealing with him.

Anna giggled at that, and walked over to the barrier, shoving her way through the other people on the station. She forced herself to see the magic like she had been practicing the day before, and could see the interwoven red and blue strands over the barrier, but she found it hard to believe that one could just run at a brick wall and come out okay. Shrugging she pressed her hand to the barrier, hoping that she wouldn't have to actually run at a wall, but instead walk cautiously as she knew that one of the strands of magic would reflect any attention she would get doing so. But instead of feeling the cool, rough and uneven brick she had expected, her hand went through the wall as though nothing was there; she felt nothing, just air. She quickly withdrew it; shocked. She stared at the pock marked brick, then to her hand and back again for a few seconds, and then pushed her pointer finger _through_ the BRICK WALL!

'Okay, that was cool,' Anna thought before she stepped fully in, but not before shooting a smirk over towards her flabbergasted father, who had been watching her test the wall.

Turning around she found herself on a platform, it had a sign that declared it "Platform 9 ¾", so she knew she was in the right place. It wasn't very full, as her and her parents had arrived fifty minutes early8, so it wasn't surprising to see barely anyone there. She walked toward the train, and was amazed by it. See, as an eleven year old girl, she had only ever seen a train like the Hogwarts Express at the local Art Knapp. Art Knapp had all sorts of different stuff, like foreign candy, plants, soil, outdoorsy stuff, and it had a lot of miniature trains, all of them set up with a little scene that they chugged through. And here was a train very like the one she had seen, except this one was red and the other had been green (and about a hundredth the size). Anna personally preferred the red; it glowed brilliantly in the sun that shown through the windows, and the steam billowed through the station. It was much more impressive than the modern ones out in King's Cross.

"Anna!" Her mom called, distracting her from the beautiful train. Her parents stood near the middle of the station, near a brick barrier, though not the one they had entered through. Anna noticed that her dad was standing a little ways away from it and giving it an untrustworthy look as though someone would come bursting out of it at any second. "Come over here."

"Coming," She yelled, pulling her special trunk behind her which she then gave to her father once she reached them. She was not the only one to join her parents. A group of red and black haired people came and joined as well, they dressed in normal clothing, much more tasteful than what the Hall's were used to, so they pegged them as wealthy. She frowned at the group, but was shy enough that she didn't say anything about it, worried they may be snobs. She never really knew how one would take her odd personality, and didn't enjoy being mocked for it.

"Hello," the tall ginger haired woman said, extending a hand toward Anna's mom."My names Ginny Potter and this," she said with a wave of her hand toward the black haired man beside her; "is my husband, Harry Potter." The woman, Ginny, seemed pleasant enough, but she and her husband looked slightly anxious; though they were pretty good at hiding it.

My mom smiled – she's good with people as she has to calm patients down when they were in the dentist's chair – and shook the hand that the woman had held out. "I'm Kathy and this is my husband Ken." She sounded very flat with her Canadian accent compared to the woman.

Ken nodded politely as he shook the woman's hand and said with a nervous laugh, "It's very strange, having to run through a wall. I thought that was only for superheroes'." His voice also held a tint of flat Canadian – but it still held its Geordie accent which had flourished while being in his home country – and as Anna watched the Potter's faces, she saw relief and a hint of gratitude. She didn't understand why they would react like that, but had an inkling niggling at her brain... something, uh, about... Law Enforcement. Harry Potter was a famous Auror, caught a lot of dark wizards. She thought that she had seen his name mentioned in her history book, must be used to people acting weird around him. The man also shook hands with her parents.

Anna poked her mom's arm, and Kathy turned toward the young girl. "Oh, and this is Anna. She's not really important." She chuckled loudly at Anna's peeved expression. Kathy played with her daughter's hair, causing the long brown strands to fly everywhere, much to Anna's disapproval. "Nah, she's the reason we're here, I'm so happy that she's a witch."

A large smile blossomed on her face as her mom finally accepted that she was a witch, and was happy to be one. "Oh, you're and Auror, right Mr. Potter?"

The family seemed to tense, which was kind of odd, but Mr. Potter nodded.

"That's cool," she claimed with a smile before turning to her dad, "An Auror is like a police officer, like you, well except he's famous or something. You guys probably have lots in common, capturing bad guys and stuff."

Ken smiled down at Anna, and turned to back toward the Potter's and started talking about his work. The other family looked much more relaxed now than they did before, and Anna wondered what she had said that made their backs get up.

Anna turned away from the adults when she felt a bony finger poke into her side.

"Are you a first year?" A small girl with flame red hair like Ginny's and a loud voice asked. She was a bit shorter than Anna, but seemed to be bursting with energy.

Anna nodded timidly, afraid she was going to be made fun of. The girl's parents seemed rich and probably had a lot of friends already.

She had no reason to be afraid though, as the fiery young girl just squealed with delight and threw herself at the pale brunette. Unsure of what to do, Anna wrapped her arms around the girls' middle and joined her with jumping up and down.

"Um, what's the big deal?" Anna asked as she unwound herself from the girl, and took a piece of her fiery hair from her mouth. The energetic girl looked at her in disbelief.

"THE BIG DEAL?" She shrieked, causing Anna to flinch, thinking that she'd said the wrong thing and that it was all going to go down from there. However the other girl swung her arms around wildly shouting with a smile, "The big deal is you're going to be in first year with ME!"

Anna blinked and nodded. "Oh." She wasn't really sure what to think of the other girl. It was like they were already friends, yet Anna was afraid of offending her. Though with that attitude, the other girls ego would probably take a lot to get bruised.

The parents had distanced themselves from their children and talked with each other as they watched their display with amused looks on their faces.

"Don't mind Lily," a tall ginger teenager said as he walked toward the two girls. "She's always this crazy." He flashed her "the charming smile no. 3" that was originally patented by his namesake James Potter the first, Marauder and all around amazing guy, which made his chestnut brown eyes twinkle, "Names James."

Anna blushed, as she had never really talked to older boys before and this one was quite handsome, much like the King of the Faeries, without the glowing and taller. "I'm Anna," she said in a small voice. She darted her eyes down to her scuffed black Keds before darting them back up to the boy and the girl.

"Don't go snatching my friend away James," the fiery girl, Lily, warned James. She poked a finger in the middle of his torso, as that was where she could reach without looking ridiculous. "Anna's mine."

"Nuh-uh," James shook his head. "She's mine."

"No mine."

"Mine!" James snapped, crossing his arms across his chest in defiance. Looking more like a pouting child then a teenager.

Lily stomped her foot, and her face quickly became the colour of her hair, "No MINE!"

"Don't be silly, she's mine!"

"No mine!"

"Uh, uh, Mine!"

"NO MINE!"

Anna was bemused by the argument and asked without thinking, "Do I have any say in that?" Her flat Canadian tones offset the rolling English ones they had.

"No," they both said stubbornly, before Lily's older brother had an idea.

James smirked at his kid sister and wrapped an arm around Anna when she glared at Lily for starting the argument, "I knew you would pick the better Potter." He was quite a bit taller than her, and she felt a bit intimidated by him, especially because of how good looking he was.

Anna glanced at Lily and saw that she was fuming; she was about to smile when she caught a glance of the other boy standing near the two siblings. He looked a lot like the Harry Potter fellow, with messy black hair, brilliant green eyes and a long, straight nose. However, he seemed to be just a little shorter than Anna and just as shy as she was (at least right then). She knew immediately by his looks that he was James and Lily's brother and decided to actually act like her usual self.

She shrugged James' arm off her shoulder and walked over to the other boy. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and stated to the three Potter's, "I'm his, the faeries told me so." The statement was actually true, but she didn't really put much mind to it.

She could feel the silent laughter shaking his body, and was smiling triumphantly at the two siblings who looked dumbfounded. She thought she heard them mutter, "Another Luna," whatever that meant.

She didn't feel uncomfortable around the smaller boy like she did with James. Because of this, she didn't jump when he whispered, "I'm Albus, by the way; nice to meet you, and the faeries."

She gave Albus a wide smile and said back, "Likewise."

"JAMES!" A voice echoed through the station, causing Anna to jump and drop her arm from Albus. James laughed at her reaction and waved her and his two siblings before running toward the boy who was connected to the voice. James jumped onto the other boy, well teenager as he was quite tall and muscular, who had dark skin and black hair that was in dreadlocks.

"I can't believe you picked him over me," Lily whined to Anna. Her bottom lip poked out and she crossed her arms over her chest.

With her wand seeming to urge her on – Anna knew it was just telling her to be herself –Anna crossed over to the whining girl and patted her back without any awkwardness, "there, there darlin', no need to pout." Anna didn't know what was up with herself as she was being quite daring around other kids, something she had stopped doing when Karen, the girl who bullied her at school had locked her into the Janitors closet and she'd had to stay there over the weekend as one of her other classmates, who she thought was a friend, told her parents that she was sleeping over at her place. Normally she just would've given a shy smile and then hid behind her mom. However it was hard not be confident when Lily and Albus were so friendly to her, and were not rude to her. It seemed to be wearing on the wall she had built to protect her.

Lily laughed and the two girls got to talking about the school. Lily gave her more details about it than she had known from what McGonagall had told her. Time seemed to fly as the two talked and talked, Anna was surprised when their parents came over to them, without their trunks.

"Hey honey, you and Lily here should go find yourself a carriage." Her mom suggested with a wavering voice. When Anna glanced around, she noticed how full the station had become. How had she not noticed? Her mom gathered her in a hug, and Anna could feel the tears begin to pool in her eyes. She wouldn't be able to see her mom, or her dad, for the next ten months. It was going to be hard on her. "I'll miss you sweetie." Her mom said as she released Anna, swiping her sleeve over her brown eyes, which were more of a golden colour than Anna's chocolate.

Anna gave her a watery smile before being swept up and spun around by her dad. "Goodbye squirt," Her dad gruffly said, naming her by the affectionate nickname he had given her as a baby. "Remember everything so that you can tell me when you call from your Aunt and Uncle's." Then he released her, and put his arm around his wife. They were so alike: both with short brown hair, her dad's a light ash and her mom's dark; yet so different: dad's pale and tall form contrasting to her moms' tan and short one. She loved them so much.

Before Anna could do anything else but nod, Lily grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the train."Come on Anna, we want to get to the compartment before it's full up with older kids."

As she was dragged away, Anna waved her free arm and yelled, "I love you." She felt light and airy, while a heavy lump settled in her throat. She was so excited to go to Hogwarts, but knew she would miss her parents dearly, but she pushed the thoughts from her mind and looked with Lily for the compartment their parents had chosen. She could feel the train begin to gain some speed, and rock a little back and forth as they continued to look for empty compartments fifteen minutes later. Anna had only ever been on a sky train, so she didn't know what to expect, but it was much smoother than she had imagined. It was also much prettier: the corridors were panelled with mahogany wood and clear windows; there were no dirt marks, or graffiti. Even then smell of piss and alcohol was missing!

It took a while to find the compartment that their parents had put their trunks, but they finally found it and it only had one person in it. He was a pretty boy with short brown hair and large hands, and seemed familiar to Anna, but she wasn't exactly sure where from. He was sprawled on the seat and smiled charmingly at the Lily when she entered. "Well if it isn't Miss Lily Potter?" He said in an Irish accent. Anna was enthralled with the sound, having not heard one up close before. She loved it. Then she thought about the day she had gone to Diagon Alley and remembered the Irish family with the boy that waved at her.

Lily detached herself from Anna, who had been hanging on to her for dear life, and gave the gangly boy a hug. When she pulled back, she smirked at him, "Lovely seeing you here Mister Finnegan, blown anything up lately?" She then sank into the seat opposite him. Anna was unsure of what to do, so just stood in the doorway.

The charming Mister Finnegan looked sheepish as he admitted exasperatedly, "It was only a block of cheese." He ran a hand through his hair in a very similar motion to what her father had done earlier, except his flopped back to the exact position it had been in before.

Anna snorted at the thought of cheese exploding_. _'It would liquefy,' she thought, 'and spray everywhere. That would be funny.'

The boy turned his eyes, which were a pretty hazel, toward her. "Who're you?"

Anna was opening her mouth to answer when Lily piped up, "Her name's Anna, and she's my new best friend, right?" Lily turned her baby blue eyes toward Anna, and she looked questioningly on her.

"Sure thing, though I do belong to Albus," she trailed off thoughtfully as Lily giggled.

"Yeah, I'll make sure to not forget," she said cheerfully, bouncing in her seat. "Just make sure to invite me to the wedding."

Anna laughed and walked into the compartment. She picked up his legs which caused an "Oi" in response, flopped down to where his feet had been, and put his feet in her lap.

"She's crazy, you know." Anna mock whispered to Louis, and he snickered in response. "She knows that I wouldn't invite her." With that said she smirked at a sputtering Lily, before having striking up a conversation.

"So what house do you want to be in?"

"Oh, both my parents were in Gryffindor, so I'm expected to go there as well. Not that I mind, house of the brave and all that." Louis said with a quirky grin.

"Same with my family, though my dad almost got into Slytherin when she was sorted," Lily snorted. "Mum laughed for ages thinking of him and Malfoy sharing a dorm."

Anna didn't know who Malfoy was but put her two cents in, "Gryffindor sounds like a house for the rash and academically challenged personally."

The two stared at her for a couple seconds and Anna was afraid that she had lost her two new friends already. Then they both started laughing.

"Aye that's the stereotype for our house, like Huffelpuff for duffers, Ravenclaw for bookworms and Slytherin for those evil sods." Louis put in, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

"You just watch," Lily said to her new friend, "You just watch yourself get into Gryffindor for saying that."

"Pfft, of course I'll be in Gryffindor, I have to be brave to hang out with you guys." Anna teased the two while flicking a piece of dirt off of Louis' pants.

"Oh, you did not just say that." Lily taunted while flexing her fingers and Louis joined her while picking his feet off of Anna's lap.

"So what if I did?" Anna snottily replied before she found herself being tickled by the two other first years.

After a while of that punishment, the two eased off and chatted some more, getting to know each other's home life and favorite colours. The two wizard raised students were shocked to hear that Anna talked to faeries, and got on with the goblins. They were also horrified to learn about the bullying she had suffered back home. Anna found the pranks that Albus and Rose, who Lily talked about because of the so called impending wedding, played on others, and the amount of things that Louis had managed to explode before he got used to his magic. They were just about to take out the food that Ginny had packed for Lily when the compartment door opened to reveal three girls.

The lead girl was a pretty blonde the same age as the three in the compartment, but she was developed for her age and had obviously put some time into her appearance judging the carefully applied makeup she sported and the carefully cultivated tan. The girl on her right sported straight black hair to contrast the other girls blonde, and had a similar cultivated beauty of the other girl. The thing that stood out was her deep black eyes that assessed them all crtically before dismissing them. The last girl had long, curly brown hair that framed her child like face that held beautiful, big sandy and blue eyes, a petite nose and pouty lips, and she seemed to hold and aura of cluelessness while appearing just as developed as the lead girl. All three wore their uniforms already, showing them as first years for not having a house crest.

"Hi there," the lead girl spoke in a snotty voice as she gave them a fake smile. "I heard that Lily Potter was in this compartment, is that you?" She asked as she stared at the red headed girl.

"So what if I am?" Lily asked rudely, crossing her arms across her flat chest. Both Anna and Louis just listened to the conversation, deciding not to participate.

"If you are, my name is Patricia Smith, and these two are Sara Belby and Meaghan Goldstein. We thought you would like to have good company." She sneered at Louis and looked disinterestedly at Anna as though to say that the company she was currently in was chosen in poor taste. "We wouldn't want a celebrity's daughter to be in poor company now would we? Everyone would talk."

Anna shrunk in on herself slightly, only noticed by Lily and Louis whom she had spent the past two hours with and could tell the difference.

Lily frowned at the three girls, "You seem to be under the impression that my family and I care about the fame my father has."

"You should be," Sara said viciously.

"Well I don't," Lily huffed, "So why don't you, you, uh…" She tried to think of a word to describe them without swearing and was about to make a fool of herself before Anna spoke up.

"Barbies."

"Heh, yeah, you barbies take your fake tans and leave!" She shouted the end and the three left with a huff as they stomped away.

"Pfft, that was funny," Louis laughed, which set off the other two at the stupidity of the entire meeting, none knowing that those three girls were going to be around them a lot more than they would like.

After that they were off, beginning their friendship, and creating the horrible nickname, that will last for four years before the friendship would be truly tested.

oOoOo

The first years marched into the trophy room that glistened in the torch light Anna couldn't help but be extremely nervous. Her stomach clenched and seemed to be full of butterflies, and she couldn't help but wonder how they got there. It twisted and leaped like an acrobat, making her wish she hadn't eaten the random piece of candy she had found in her bag that had held her change of robes, as that must be the reason she was acting like this.

Anna tried to think about other thing, like how mesmerizing the castle was, mostly because it was a CASTLE! Castles aren't what one would call an everyday type of building where she lived, or at least that she knew of. (If there were more like this castle in the UK then you can sign her up for living here.) The stone walls were not the gray she had expected, but were instead a warm brown colour, and when she ran her hand along the wall it actually was warm as though it was living and breathing. She might've seemed weird to the other kids, but she couldn't help it if she wasn't used to the fact that they were going to live in a CASTLE! 'Okay, okay... calm it down with the castle talk,' she chided herself. 'Just because it doesn't happen every day doesn't mean that I should get a one track mind.'She shook her head ruefully and joined in with her new friends.

She found it increasingly amazing that she had managed to get friends on the first day; that never happened. Anna could say that she was unpopular, as everyone in her grade tended to make fun of her, especially with the ring leader around. Karen, the tallest and – in Anna's opinion – the most petty girl in her grade was the ring leader; had taken it upon herself to make Anna's life miserable. She had succeeded, tormenting her, belittling her, and making sure she had no friends.

Here she had no worries that her belief in the odd (which was the normal here) would make her ostracized or Karen to bully her and to make the other kids no longer like her... Well technically there was those three girls like that here, but she didn't think that anyone could get between her and her friends. Lily and Louis, who were both wonderful people with startlingly different personalities, Lily was like the she-devil that was always ready for a confrontation yet extremely nice and Louis was extremely suave with a hint of boyish charm and quirkiness. She felt like they would be friends forever. That was an absurd thought, but whatever. She let it be, as she just didn't know why she felt that way. It was like her wand was telling her that they could be trusted and that she was okay with them.

A calm male voice drifted through Anna's thoughts; "Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, you will be sorted into houses: Gryffindor, Huffelpuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." On the last word the dark skinned man – who towered over Anna and the other first years – frowned, but continued on with his explanation. Anna thought that he was quite a kind man, with his dark brown eyes shining with mirth and his posture exuding confidence. Anna was usually pretty good with first impressions and by the soft hum of agreement from her wand that it agreed with her as well.

She was listening to him talk about the houses, the whole the house is your family type of thing, when she felt something. It was a tingling on the edge of her mind; almost as if a tendril of something had brushed against her consciousness. Anna focused on the feeling and was able to picture the tendril, and reach out (metaphorically as reaching out your hand for an invisible tendril is just weirder than is acceptable, even for her) and tug it into her mind. That probably wasn't advisable, but she was curious.

**~I was curious too~ **a young male voice stated clear and calm as ever in her head. It was different from that of the Professor (whom she was guessing the defense teacher Professor Thomas) and that of Louis', but it had Louis' youthfulness. ~**If you want to know who I am you could just ask ya know?~**

Anna was shocked ~**You're reading my mind.~ **She thought bewilderedly, she was pretty sure she was doing her best fish impression. ~**Oh Hades, I didn't know people could do that... Then again I probably shouldn't try to grab magical tendrils reaching toward my brain, but what do you do?~**

A chuckle echoed through the recesses of her mind. ~**I don't think you look like you're doing a fish impression. My dad does a good one.~ **The memory of a tall ginger man with a spattering of freckles appeared in her mind. His mouth gaped open, shut and then closed again repeatedly, with his eyes bulging out.

It took a lot of effort not to laugh aloud, as her friends may have accepted some of her oddities, laughing for no reason was pushing it. ~**So who are you anyway Mr. Brain Talk?~**

**~Hugo's the name and I was curious about you because you are friends with my cousin. Not many people are accepted by her family because many people just want to get their fame~ **

**~Yeah, there were some girls on the train that mentioned it and I know her dad's a famous Auror, but that doesn't really make sense, why would you want to be around them for fame?~ **Anna was puzzled by this, and it showed in her thoughts.

**~Well, her dad is also the Boy-Who-Lived-And-Conquered or the Chosen One and her mother is a chaser on the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch Team~**

**~Oh, so that was the famous boy fellow... ~ **Anna could almost see the amused smirk that would appear on the boys face at this. Looking around for a boy with a smirk on his face, she saw one immediately. His hair was in a curl mass on his head, and looked incredibly soft, he had pale skin with a spattering of freckles and flashing dimples.

**~Oh, he's cute~ **Anna thought unconsciously and she saw the boy that was looking at a tad shocked and a bit smug which made her blush. ~**Oh no, you heard that.~ **She thought in despair. ~**I did not just think that.~**

**~Sorry, but you did... Okaaaaay. Well girl-who-thinks-I'm-cute, what's your name? You know mine after all.~**

Anna quirked an eyebrow to the boy still terribly embarrassed so she prepped to throw him out. ~**Name's Anna. Nice to… talk, think, whatever… to you. Um, does this happen a lot?~**

**~Not usually no, but I've heard that it can happen between people who are natural Legilimens~ **He paused here as though he had felt her confusion, **~A mind reader, and Sensors. However it isn't well documented and it is unlikely for two such as us to meet each other.~ **He spoke as if quoting a textbook, which made her blink. **~Because of this I am guessing that you're a Sensor as I'm a natural Legilimens.~**

She nodded, which made Louis look at her funny, and blushed at her stupidity. She heard a chuckle in her mind and decided to cut the conversation. She felt around her mind, searching for the stupid tendril and then pushed it out of her mind. She was awarded with seeing his brown eyes widen and mouth form a comical "o".

"So why are you staring at my cousin?" Lily asked, her head comically tilted to the left. "Are you declaring that you're his too?"

"Oh shut up." Anna said, giving her a slight nudge. "It was just a staring contest."

Lily looked at her, up and down, but then shrugged. "I'm guessing you won, otherwise he wouldn't be so shocked." She smirked at Hugo, "He always did win staring contests too easily."

Louis and Lily laughed at that, but Anna only gave a smile.

"I'm guessing that you don't like your cousin?" Anna asked, as it was with a bit of scorn that she had said the last statement.

Lily shook her head. "Nah, I don't hate the bloke, but we've never been really close. He's always been a bit distant from everybody; even with his sister."

Anna thought that Lily's family should've tried a little harder to be friends with Hugo, as he seemed like a good guy even with the mind reading (which was probably why he was so stand offish), but before she could really say anything she and the other first years were being ushered into the Great Hall. It was truly magnificent. The students all turned in their seats to get a look at the new students. Anna felt a churning in her gut again as she past them by. 'Just pay them no mind, none at all.' She would've found her own advice hard to listen to if it weren't for the fact she had darted her gaze upward. What she saw there was the open sky. It was if there was no roof, but she knew that it was there (as she had read about it quickly in _Hogwarts: A History_) but it was so much more impressive in person. Because she was looking up she barely managed from tumbling into the kid in front of her, a short rat faced boy, by the hand on her arm. She saw that it was just Louis and nodded her thanks.

When she looked to the front, she saw the teachers table – as that's what it had to be – and a ragged old hat sitting on a four legged stool. The brim opened, and then began to sing. She didn't pay attention to the words, as that held no great importance to her, but the melody was pleasant enough as she hummed along. She thought that a singing hat was brilliant idea. When the tune finished, she clapped delightedly along with all the others, and she could see the kids around her sagging with relief. From the stuff that she had overheard, many of the kids thought that they would have to do magic of some sort or battling a troll. They had some over wrought imaginations.

The sorting passed on pleasantly with a pair of twins being sort into Slytherin and "Finnegan, Louis" being sorted into Gryffindor. Then it was her turn to go up with:

"Hall, Anna."

She walked up to the raised wooden platform, her heels reverberating off the wood and sounding startlingly loud in the almost silent hall. Anna picked up the ragged hat, and placed it gently on her head.

**~Good day to you, what is your name?~** Anna thought, as it was always good to be polite. And she had gotten over the fact of a talking hat around the third person who was sorted.

**~Ah, why hello to you to dear, my name's Jareth~ **A voice whispered in her head, very much like Hugo, but a little creepier and much older.

Anna wondered who could have such a strange name, but continued to be nice nonetheless. **~Are you alright?~**

**~Why yes I am, you would be surprised by how barely anyone asks that. Now let me check your mind, hmm...~ **Anna could feel him moving through her mind and sat relaxed as she waited for him to be finished.

**~Hmm... Why you have quite the interesting wand young lady!~**

**~Yes, I think so~ **Anna answered back as she felt as if her wand and the hat were speaking.

**~Well it seems to want you in Gryffindor, though you would do well in Ravenclaw, you're certainly smart and unconventional enough. Though I can tell you want to be with your friends!**

**~Oh, I guess it better be...~** "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted aloud.

She made her way to her housemates, who clapped with increasing vigor, especially after Lily was sorted. Anna was sad when Hugo was sorted into Slytherin, which was met with silence throughout the hall. He had looked pale and horrified, but quickly covered his feelings with a mask and joined the green and silver table. He never made eye contact with Anna again throughout the entire dinner.

oOoOo

The next four years passed in a blur, she made enemies with her roommates (who they had named the barbies after that first meeting on the train), beside Lily, and became the newest Golden Trio since the time of Lily and Louis' parents, though they have it A.L.L (why yes, it is a bad pun). Through that all Anna managed to become great friends with some of the Slytherins in her year after cornering Hugo to make him talk to her (and stalking him, not that she would ever admit it) and spent whatever time she wasn't with Lily and Louis in the Slytherin common room – it was a fact that only her and the snakes knew, as if anyone else knew that a lion was hanging in the Slytherin Common Room9, there would be a riot – or in the Study group she had started that included every house but her own (they thought Quidditch was more important). Lily and Louis managed to get onto the Quidditch Team as reserve chasers in second year and on the main team in third so they lost a lot time that they would usually hangout with each other. Her and her friends were all changing now though, as Anna now had a hot temper, Lily was now narrow minded and Louis, well, Louis was a guy. She hoped that her fifth year would be for the best, and maybe she could finally be friends with the shy guy that caught her heart. She'd always liked him, not that she found him physically attractive, but he had the nicest personality and was always so accepting of her that she couldn't do anything else but fall for his soulful eyes.

O.W.L year, the pivotal year, the year that would change everything. Who knows what could happen...

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1 My mother actually uses this saying regularly, but means no ill will towards gays or lesbians. I don't really understand how a popcorn farts or how one can be gayer than it, but it's just how she is.

2 Another one of my mother's anecdotes that she got from my grandmother, I blame her living in the middle of nowhere for the first eighteen years of her life as the reason behind it.

3 The Canadian Paranormal Society or TCPS actually exists, you can google it.

4 EVP's otherwise known as electronic voice phenomenon, trying to find disembodied voices that cannot be hear with the naked ear.

5 By Magicals it means that Ken's biological father (whom left him and his mother when he as one) was a squib born to another squib who was the not so honourable Lord Hall whom disowned his second son – the squib – from the family, thus ending his chance of having an heir when his first son was killed in the war with Voldemort (he was a supporter). This also is noteworthy to notice that all muggleborns actually are descended from squibs, and are just the only one in the family to have the ability to use magic in a while (marrying muggles allows the ability to increase as it allows for the magic blood to fight the muggle blood making the person stronger).

6 As a figure of authority, she gains automatic respect and thus made Ken and Anna sad that they couldn't act out, but before they shrug it off.

7 This trunk was specially made for Mundane's as it was always measured 45 pounds on a scale, but was feather-light to the any keyed into the wards. It looks like a regular muggle suitcase, but changes to a trunk when one pushes the logo on the front and says "Wizard" and it has a automatic shrink function that is similar to the trunk switch but one has to say "shrink" instead.

8 Her mother is slightly obsessed with getting everywhere early, something which she has managed to drill into Anna, but is having trouble doing so with Ken.

9 The Slytherin's knew but weren't really bothered by it, as Anna was classified as an honorary Slytherin when she managed to beat a seventh year snake in a duel that had a problem with her.

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**A/N:**

So what did you think? Good, bad, I should hang myself? Please review!


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